Thin‐film Potentiometric Sensor to Detect CO2 Concentrations Ranging Between 2 % and 100 %

A potentiometric thin‐film sensor to detect CO₂ in a wide range (2–100 %) has been developed. The system has been fabricated depositing a reference electrode of Pt, a solid electrolyte of YSZ (Yttria‐stabilized Zirconia), a sensing phase made of Li₂CO₃ and a working electrode of Au via Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD). Characterization of the different elements has provided the optimal fabrication parameters and the system response for CO₂ concentrations can be measured from 2 to 100 % at 450 °C. The sensor behaves as a non‐Nerstian system and slightly deviates from a linear response with the logarithm of CO₂ until the CO₂ concentration reaches the 30 %. Higher CO₂ amounts make the response divert more from the Nernst law but give a stable and reproducible response to CO₂ in a wide range of concentrations. Based on these promising results the recovery time, stability, repeatability and selectivity of the sensor have been measured. The performance showed by the thin film sensor proves the feasibility of the use of this system for biogas and natural gas applications owing to its very good consistency at low temperature in a wide concentration range.     

Distannylated Bithiophene Imide: Enabling High-Performance n-Type Polymer Semiconductors with an Acceptor–Acceptor Backbone

A distannylated electron-deficient bithiophene imide (BTI-Tin) monomer was synthesized and polymerized with imide-functionalized co-units to afford homopolymer PBTI and copolymer P(BTI-BTI2), both featuring an acceptor–acceptor backbone with high molecular weight. Both polymers exhibited excellent unipolar n-type character in transistors with electron mobility up to 2.60 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹. When applied as acceptor materials in all-polymer solar cells, PBTI and P(BTI-BTI2) achieved high power-conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.67 % and 8.61 %, respectively. The PCE (6.67 %) of polymer PBTI, synthesized from the distannylated monomer, is much higher than that (0.14 %) of the same polymer PBTI*, synthesized from typical dibrominated monomer. The 8.61 % PCE of copolymer P(BTI-BTI2) is also higher than those (<1 %) of homopolymers synthesized from dibrominated monomers. The results demonstrate the success of BTI-Tin for accessing n-type polymers with greatly improved device performance.     

Effect of thermal annealing on disorder and optical properties of Cr/Si bilayer thin films

Chromium/silicon bilayers are deposited by sequential electron beam evaporation on quartz substrates. The bilayers consisting of Cr and Si layers of 50 and 400 nm thicknesses, respectively, are subjected to post-deposition annealing at temperatures from 200 to 700 °C. The thermal annealing results in the interdiffusion between Cr and Si, as evidenced by cross-section scanning electron micrographs and the line profiles obtained from energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. It is inferred from the compositional line profiles that the films are a combination of silicon-rich oxide, chromium oxide and unreacted Cr up to 500 °C. Chromium disilicide forms at temperatures greater than 500 °C with decrease in chromium oxide content. The refractive index value and extinction coefficient values are 2.1 and 0.12 in the as-deposited case which increase to 3.5 and 0.24 at 400 °C. These values decrease to 2.1 and 0.12 at 500 °C. At the same temperatures, the band gap values are 2.21, 2.40 and 2.28, respectively. Thus, the refractive index, absorption coefficient and the optical band gap of the films peak at an annealing temperature of 400 °C and decrease thereafter. Significantly, this is accompanied by increase in Urbach energy which is an indication of increase in disorder in the system. There is decrease in Urbach energy as well as the optical constants at temperatures >400 °C.     

Influences of Marangoni convection and variable magnetic field on hybrid nanofluid thin-film flow past a stretching surface

Investigations on thin-film flow play a vital role in the field of optoelectronics and magnetic devices. Thin films are reasonably hard and thermally stable but quite fragile. The thermal stability of a thin film can be further improved by incorporating the effects of nanoparticles. In the current work, a stretchable surface is considered upon which hybrid nanofluid thin-film flow is taken into account. The idea of augmenting heat transmission by making use of a hybrid nanofluid is a focus of the current work. The flow is affected by variations in the viscous forces, along with viscous dissipation effects and Marangoni convection. A time-constrained magnetic field is applied in the normal direction to the flow system. The equations governing the flow system are shifted to a non-dimensional form by applying similarity variables. The homotopy analysis method is employed to find the solution to the resultant equations. It is noticed in this study that the flow characteristics decline with augmentation of magnetic, viscosity and unsteadiness parameters while they increase with enhanced values of thin-film parameters. Thermal characteristics are supported by increasing values of the Eckert number and the unsteadiness parameter and opposed by the viscosity parameter and Prandtl number. The numerical impact of different emerging parameters upon skin friction and the Nusselt number is calculated in tabular form. A comparison of current work with established results is carried out, with good agreement.     

Investigation on antireflection coatings for Al:ZnO in silicon thin-film solar cells

We numerically investigate the role of antireflection (AR) coatings, composed of SiO₂ and/or ZnO, in suppression of interfacial reflections in the presence of the transparent conducting oxide, Al-doped ZnO (AZO). Three structures are simulated: (a) AR coatings in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and flat panel displays, (b) AR coating located between the glass and the AZO, and (c) same as the case b except the involvement of another AR coating between the AZO and the amorphous silicon layers. The weighted average transmittance according to the AM1.5 solar spectrum, the photovoltaic transmittance (T_pv), suggests that there is no evident difference between the structures a and b, especially when the layer number of AR coatings is less than three. An effective way to improve T_pv is presented in the structure c, where T_pv is increased from 73.54% to 76.32% with a three-layered AR coating located between AZO and a-Si. It implies that the suppression of interfacial reflections, resulting from the considerable mismatch of refractive indices at the interface of AZO and a-Si, would benefit the efficiency improvement of silicon thin-film solar cells.     

纳米表面二维周期半圆凹槽增强硅薄膜太阳能电池光吸收

利用时域有限差分方法, 研究硅薄膜上下表面周期半圆凹槽结构对于太阳光吸收的增强效应. 研究发现这种结构可以实现太阳光宽波段的光吸收增强, 通过调节SiO₂表面减反层厚度和凹槽半径长度来实现薄膜太阳能电池最大的光吸收, 并实现了波长在300-1000 nm范围的太阳光吸收总能量比没有这种 结构下硅薄膜光吸收提高了约117%. 关键词： 硅薄膜 半圆凹槽 吸收增强     

介观薄圆环中的间隙性超导

本文运用了唯象的Ginzburg-Landau 理论研究了介观薄圆环的间隙性超导, 给出了在外磁场作用下超导圆环出现间隙性超导现象的尺寸相图. 这种间隙性超导现象只出现在尺寸小圆环中, 而且是超导圆环区别于超导圆盘的一个特征.     

Effects of annealing process on characteristics of fully transparent zinc tin oxide thin-film transistor

Annealing effect on the performance of fully transparent thin-film transistor （TTFT）, in which zinc tin oxide （ZnSnO） is used as the channel material and SiO2 as the gate insulator, is investigated. The ZnSnO active layer is deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering while a SiO2 gate insulator is formed by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The saturation field-effect mobility and on/off ratio of the TTFT are improved by low temperature annealing in vacuum. Maximum saturation field-effect mobility and on/off ratio of 56.2 cm2/（V.s） and 3×10^5 are obtained, respectively. The transfer characteristics of the ZnSnO TPT are simulated using an analytical model and good agreement between measured and the calculated transfer characteristics is demonstrated.     

Research on the electrical characteristics of an organic thin-film field-effect transistor based on alternating-current resistance

In this article, an organic thin-film field-effect transistor (OTFFET) with top-gate and bottom-contact geometry based on pentacene as the active layer is fabricated. The experimental data of the I-V are obtained from the OTFFET device. The alternating-current (AC) resistance value of the OTFFET device is calculated using the derivation method from the experimental data, and the AC resistance trend curves of the OTFFET device are obtained with the region fitting method. We analyse the characteristics of the OTFFET device with an AC resistance trend curve. To discover whether it has a high resistance, it is proposed to judge the region of the source/drain voltage (V_DS) less than the transition voltage, thereby determining whether the contact between the metal electrode and the organic semiconductor layer of the OTFFET device is Ohmic or non-Ohmic. The theoretical analysis shows that the field-effect mobility and the AC resistance are in reverse proportion. Therefore, we point out that reducing AC resistance is necessary if field-effect mobility is to be improved.     

利用光学薄膜模型研究垂直腔面发射激光器的光学特性

可以把垂直腔面发射激光器看作是多层光学薄膜,应用光学薄膜原理对其光学薄膜的特性进行了研究。计算分析了布拉格反射镜和谐振腔模的反射谱受器件结构变化的影响。通过利用菲涅耳系数矩阵法计算,得到了光在垂直腔面发射激光器器件结构中形成的驻波场分布。结果表明,利用菲涅耳系数矩阵法设计垂直腔面发射激光器的光学薄膜是一种快捷准确的方法。